Circular RNAs Are the Predominant Transcript Isoform from Hundreds of Human Genes in Diverse Cell Types

Figure 2

Expression levels of scrambled exons.

Analysis of paired-end RNA-Seq data from random primed libraries reveals evidence that scrambled exons are present at high stoichiometries compared to the canonical linear transcript transcribed from a large number of human genes. This phenomenon persists across cell types and is illustrated by the expression patterns of 3 leukocyte cell types: CD19 (B cells), CD34 (stem cells) and neutrophils. The fraction of each scrambled transcript as a fraction of total gene expression is computed. The bar plot depicts the number of circular isoforms with estimated abundance relative to all transcripts of the gene in the following ranges: between 0–25%, 25–50%, 50–75% and 75+%. Hundreds of isoforms in each cell type are estimated to represent more than half of all transcripts from each gene.